Insulator



y 3, 1948. A. D. MARTIN, JR 2,444,938

IHSULATOR Filed Oct. 18, 1945 4TTORNE) end at the front, shown in Fig. 2. The terms ends, "front and back are applied solely for convenience in description and there is no utilitarian efiect dependent thereon.

Each slot l2 to l has at its lower end at its extreme inner limit an upward extension or slot 2| with parallel vertical sides the clearance between which is the same as that between the upper and lower sides of the part 20; and at the upper end each part 20 has a downward extension or slot 22 similar to the one 2| except for its direction, and in the same plane. The extensions 2| and 22 both have a horizontal termination consisting of identical restricted portions |8|8', respectively, constituting seats which are formed by an abrupt narrowing of the slot so that it will accommodate against the ends of the extensions the horizontal wire to be supported, as before mentioned. It should be noted that the upward extension 2| has its limit or seat l8 slightly above the limit of the downward extension 22, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3. By the abrupt narrowin of the slots there are formed angular shoulders 23, at respective sides of each restricted portion It. It may also be appreciated that by continuing the extensions 2| and 22 beyond a mean horizontal line, a straight clearway is formed entirely through the insulator (see Fig. 2), so that an engaged straight wire may lie commonly at the limits of the extensions 2| and 22 without change of its axial direction (see Fig. 4). As may be understood from Fig. 2, the axis of a geometrical projection of the limiting surfaces of the two restricted parts or seats |8|8' may closely correspond to the axis of a straight wire, laid against the seats as shown at I! in Fig. 4.

By reason of the relation of the extensions 2| and 22 to the parts 20 of the slots |I2 to I5, it will be apparent that each extension, between its seat and the opposed side of the part 20, is V-shaped, one side of the V being the inclined side of the part 2|, and the other side of the V being the horizontal termination I8 or I8 of the extension 2| or 22, as the case may be. These extensions, for the purpose of considering their operative relation to the engaged wire, and for descriptive convenience, may be regarded as separate coplanar oppositely located V-shaped slots, with their convergent parts in conjunction, and the part 20 may be regarded as a lateral third slot mutually joining the two. By the opposition of the slot portions 2| and 22, in conjunction as shown, the sides of the V-shaped portions do not converge to a point, but stop short of each other, as in Fig. 5, and form a throat space 25 or connecting slot.

By this arrangement, when a wire is fully positioned in the insulator, it will be supported in the seat 3' at its lower side from a point a little to the right of the major plane (of the insulator) to the rear face of the rib |0a or I01); and at its upper side will be confined in the slot 2| over a distance beginning a little to the left of the major plane and extending to the front of the rib. In the case of a wire with insulation thereon, the shoulders 23 will serve to cut through or into the insulation when the wire is forced into the restricted parts |8| 8'.

In order to install the wire after the insulator has been bolted to the cross arm of a post, the wire I6 is moved to the left into the slot until it reaches the vertical portion of the slot at which time it is turned and forced into the restricted area at the top of the slot. This causes the bare wire to be retained securely. When four wires are respectively in slots l2, l3, l4 and I5 their relative position is insured. It is noted that at the center of the slot through which wire I6 is shown as passing there is a restricted area 25 (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3), where the wire is confined at its upper and lower sides by the longitudinally spaced inner terminations of the seats |8|8' respectively, which necessarily terminate at the inclined surfaces of the slot 20.

I claim to have invented:

An insulator for supporting wire comprising an insulatin body constructed to be mounted in a fixed relation to the direction of a wire to be supported and having two generally planiform and coplanar and generally V-shape-d slots opening on opposite sides of said body at their larger ends, each slot having two vertical parallel sides and two sides converging toward a central point but stopping short of each other, the included space within the slots extending across a geometrical horizontal line through the slots, one of the converging sides in each slot being shaped to form a transversely restricted part and to constitute a wire seat, the said seat of one slot being parallel to and below said line, the seat of the other slot being parallel to and above said line, said restricted parts and seats being spaced from said line so that a hole is formed through said body the vertical dimension of which between the levels of the extremes of said seats constitutes a wire-receivin space, and whereby the restricted parts and seats of the slots will each fit snugly partly around a supported straight wire, the seats engaging upper and lower sides of such wire at longitudinally spaced parts of the wire, the majar parts of the slots being substantially wider than said seats, that one of the convergent sides in each slot which is opposite said seat therein t being inclined, the said inclined sides being parallel to and at opposite sides of a common plane, said body having also a substantially planiform slot opening laterally from the first named slots through a side of the said body and of a width equal to that of the wider parts of the first named slots, its sides being coincident with respective said incline-d sides of the first named slots, angular shoulders parallel to said line being formed on respective sides of said restricted part of each of the first named slots at the junction of the said wider parts of the first named slots and the said restricted parts of the slots.

ALBERT D. MARTIN, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 520,412 Conover May 29, 1894 522,302 Nashold July 3, 1894 887,520 Rehling May 12, 1908 1,640,815 Brookman Aug. 30, 1927 2,386,776 Barnsteiner et al. Oct. 16, 1945 

